


Endings and Beginnings

by AngelQueen



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy
Genre: Adopted Children, But this is Star Wars, Canon Compliant, Fluff and Angst, I should say it's sort of canon compliant, I tried to keep the angst to a minimum, It doesn't take much for my brain to go there, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-05
Updated: 2016-11-05
Packaged: 2018-08-29 02:51:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,049
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8472643
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AngelQueen/pseuds/AngelQueen
Summary: Leia is four hours old the first time Bail holds her.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts).



Leia is four hours old the first time Bail holds her. 

She is awake, her newborn blue eyes darting here and there. Mostly in the direction of her brother, who is held securely by Obi-Wan, who has barely let go of one of them since their birth. Since their mother’s death.

The Kallidahin medics have synthesized a formula for her and her brother, one they are hopeful that the twins will accept. It is the third one they have tried. The previous two had barely been tasted before the infants had angrily rejected the liquid.

Obi-Wan radiates a mire of emotions, from grief to terror-tinged despair. Bail may not be a Jedi, but he knows his friend. The man has lost so much already – his brethren, his brothers, Anakin, Padmé – it doesn’t take much for Bail to see that Obi-Wan now fears to lose young Luke and Leia as well. If they will not eat…

One of the medics appears at Bail’s elbow, a bottle in hand. Bail, by now having taken to the earlier instructions on how to feed a newborn, takes it and lifts it to Leia’s lips. She is obviously hungry, and she takes the nub eagerly. Bail watches, holding his breath, praying she won’t start wriggling in disgust, choking against the bottle like she has before…

She sucks on the liquid eagerly, not stopping. She likes it. Bail breathes a small sigh of relief, and then glances up to see that Luke is doing the same in Obi-Wan’s arms. The naked appreciation in the other man’s eyes makes Bail’s heart break. 

After a moment, Bail returns his gaze to Leia and he studies her. Her features are indistinct, just a round head and chubby cheeks. He sees nothing of Padmé, nothing of Anakin, nothing of Obi-Wan (not that he is supposed to know of the triad made up of the three of them, but he is not blind to the tangle of emotions that so often sprang up between the two Jedi and his fellow Senator) in her appearance. Still, he thinks she is adorable, she and her brother both.

* * *

Leia is fifty-six hours old when Bail conspires in deciding her fate. 

The trip from Polis Massa to Naboo is a solemn, painful one. It had been Bail’s duty to communicate with Theed Palace, to inform the young queen residing there of Padmé’s death. The heavy make-up had hid nearly all of Terris Apailana’s reaction to the news, but Bail’s observation skills had been honed in the Senate. Compared to some of the dissembling skills of some of his fellow Senators, she had been fairly obvious in her shock and grief.

Of the twins, he says nothing, at the insistence of Obi-Wan and Yoda both. 

When the _Sundered Heart_ sets down in the royal hangar and Padmé’s body is carried off by an honor guard, still nothing is mentioned of the two infants that rest in the medbay. 

Eventually, Bail is freed from the meetings with the Queen and her council, and he returns to the ship. Within moments he finds himself in another meeting, this time with his two Jedi passengers.

When it becomes clear that they are to discuss the fate of the twins, various options race through Bail’s mind. Padmé rarely spoke of her family, but when she did, it was always with warmth and love. Still, it seems that they are not even being considered as candidates for whom shall take the babies in. Since the intent seems to keep the children and their parentage hidden, he supposes that it would be rather too obvious to hand them over to their mother’s family. The Naberries are a well-known family on Naboo, and even if they were to claim that the children are war orphans, the timing of their ‘adoption’ would be too suspicious should the wrong people be looking in their direction. 

It saddens him, to deprive the Naberries of their grandchildren when they have already lost their daughter. He can only hope that they would understand that it is done to preserve their grandchildren’s safety.

The next option, to Bail, is Obi-Wan. There is every possibility that he is the twins’ biological father, given his relationship with Padmé, but even if Anakin is the biological father, Obi-Wan is still their parent as well. Bail looks at Obi-Wan, though, and sees the perpetual slump in his shoulders, the unending grief in his expression. He doesn’t think Obi-Wan will put forth his claim.

The third option… it barely has time to form fully in his mind before hope blooms in his chest. He and Breha might take them. Their long, unending struggle to have a family has finally left them at the point where they have been considering adoption. “I’d love a baby girl,” Breha has whispered more than once, her dark eyes full of a deep, unshakable longing. Here is a baby girl, and he doesn’t believe she would love a son any less.

Before he can make the offer, however, Yoda decrees that the twins should be separated. Bail wants to cry out at such an injustice. These twins have already lost two parents and now stand to lose a third. Must they lose each other too? Still, these are weighty matters that Yoda and Obi-Wan have been discussing, talking of how the Sith must not sense their presence. Bail knows little of such things, but he’s just seen the Republic torn down by the man sworn to uphold it, so it doesn’t seem so outlandish that ancient horror stories have come to life. If it is safer that Luke and Leia be separated, he will not argue, however much hit grieves him.

“My wife and I will take the girl,” he volunteers. He offers Yoda a polite smile. “We’ve always talked about adopting a baby girl.” He pauses, his eyes swiveling to meet Obi-Wan’s and he adds with a significant look, “She will be loved with us.”

Obi-Wan’s expression gives nothing away, but Bail is positive he sees the weary but heartfelt gratitude in his eyes.

* * *

Leia is seventy-two hours old when she is separated from her brother and her last remaining birth parent. 

Bail stands in the doorway of the deserted medbay, watching Obi-Wan make the final preparations for his departure. Neither of them speaks. The arrangements have all been made. Bail has given Obi-Wan access to a discreet account from which to draw funds to help him and Luke to Tatooine and to set up a new life for himself. Obi-Wan has provided him with a – hopefully – safe method of contact, though both have agreed not to use it except in the case of a dire emergency.

Bail watches Obi-Wan pack the last few supplies his medical staff had provided him for Luke. “Are you sure about this?” he asks him quietly. “Giving Luke to Anakin’s family? You could very well be –“

“I’m not, Bail,” Obi-Wan cuts him off. He doesn’t look in his direction, but Bail can see his eyes darting toward the bassinette that contains the two sleeping children. “I had the Kallidahins do a genetic test. They’re Anakin’s.”

“That doesn’t make you any less their father, Obi-Wan.” Bail doesn’t like the idea of Obi-Wan settling somewhere alone. After all he’s suffered, sitting in solitude and brooding over everything – and he will brood, Bail knows his friend – seems like the last thing he needs.

“And that means I have to do what is best for them,” Obi-Wan says. “If I’m discovered, let me be discovered alone and away from them. Living with the Lars’ will protect Luke, disassociating him from me.”

Bail falls silent. It’s a good point, one he cannot argue with. Obi-Wan then shoulders the bag and crosses to the bassinette. He doesn’t immediately go to pick up Luke, but instead focuses on Leia. His eyes seem to caress her face, followed by the fingers that reach out and brush her smooth cheek. Leia shifts and twitches at the touch, but does not awaken.

After a moment, Obi-Wan retracts his hand and picks Luke up out of the bassinette. He doesn’t let himself hesitate in walking towards Bail and the doorway, not looking back. He does stop, though, and meets Bail’s gaze. “I will hold you to your promise, my friend,” he whispers, “that she will be loved.”

Then, without waiting for a response, Obi-Wan leaves with Leia’s brother cradled close against his chest.

* * *

Leia is five days old when she comes home for the first time.

Bail can barely suppress the butterflies in his stomach as he walks through the corridors of the castle, cradling Leia in his arms. Breha knows he’s coming, of course, and who he is bringing. All the same, he can’t help the flutters of nervous excitement that dance and twist through him. She… _they_ have wanted this for so long…

When he steps out onto the balcony overlooking the lake, Breha has already seated herself along the railing. Her posture is relaxed enough, but as he comes closer, he sees the anticipation, the desperate hope in her face, and knows she’s barely restraining the urge to hold her arms out like a demanding, impatient child. 

When he finally comes to a halt in front of his wife, he can barely make her out for the tears that fill his eyes. He manages to lay Leia in Breha’s arms, and then settles down on the bench next to her. 

“Oh,” Breha breathes, her gaze glued to the infant in her arms. “Oh, Bail… she’s _beautiful_.”

“Yes,” he agrees, “she is beautiful. _Leia_ is beautiful.”

Breha’s joy is palpable. “Leia,” she repeats, letting the name roll of her tongue. “Leia Organa.”

* * *

Leia is forty-three days old and Bail doesn’t ever remember being so exhausted. 

Breha refuses to hire a nurse to help take care of their daughter, and only grudgingly acquiesces to the assistance of a nanny droid. “We are her parents,” she insists, “and we will be the ones to take care of her!”

Bail understands why Breha reacts the way she does. She was never close to her parents, having been left in the care of nannies for nearly all of her early life, and then shipped off to boarding school when she reached the appropriate age. Breha has long sworn to be everything her own mother was not.

Still, it doesn’t change the fact that Breha is Alderaan’s queen, and that Bail is Alderaan’s senator and viceroy. They have duties and responsibilities that require them to be at their best.

When Bail tells Breha this, outrage flashes across her face, as though she is offended by what he is implying, but then she pauses, actually considering his words. She looks down at Leia, who is even now fussing and exuding an unhappy air.

Bail can’t help but wonder if she is somehow missing her brother. He firmly puts that thought out of his mind. There is nothing to be done now. 

He instead refocuses on Breha. She sighs. “It’s true, we do have responsibilities. And we cannot live up to them if we are perpetually worn out from being up all night.” She pauses, bouncing Leia a little in the hope of getting her to calm down, and then murmurs, “I don’t want us to be virtual strangers to her, visiting the nursery on scheduled visits that last for exactly twenty minutes and no more.”

Bail winces, knowing that was very like Breha’s own childhood. He steps closer and puts his hands on her shoulders. “That will not happen, Breha,” he assures her. “So long as you remain committed to loving her, you’ll always be her mother.” It was a commitment Breha’s mother never made. "No one else will ever take your place."

Her dark eyes are glassy and bright, but the tremulous smile she gives him warms his heart, as it has for years. She leans forward and presses her lips to his own, and he grins against her kiss before returning it. 

Leia’s giggles interrupt the moment, causing them to pull back and look down at her. She’s tangled her hands in the loose strands of her mother’s hair, looking absolutely fascinated. There is no sign of her previous unhappiness.

Bail and Breha laugh.


End file.
